Retirement Trends

Increased fixed and variable annuity sales during the fourth quarter pushed industry-wide sales to $59.3 billion, up 3.1 percent from the prior quarters sales of $57.5 billion and up 17.2 percent from fourth quarter 2012 sales of $50.6 billion.

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New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer said the citys $148 billion pension funds withdrew shareholder requests that Jarden Corp. and Microchip Technology Inc. diversify after they appointed women to their boards.

Symetra Chief Executive Officer Tom Marra and Fidelity & Guaranty CEO Lee Launer have lauded Iowas approach to indexed insurance products, which some consumer groups have criticized as potentially risky retirement vehicles.

Women still earn lower wages than men and are more likely to work part-time or take time off to care for their children, parents or disabled relatives, which can further lower their earnings.

There was a mixed response to Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen's comments last week on a time frame for future interest rate increases, with some analysts viewing it as a mistake and others finding it encouraging.